


Monster Reunion

by Jay_Stranger



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Corrupted Gems, Corrupted Spinel, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic here for obvious reasons, Romance foreshadowing?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:54:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21565666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jay_Stranger/pseuds/Jay_Stranger
Summary: Set in an AU in which Spinel was a Crystal Gem, Steven uses his newly recovered healing spit to try and heal his best friend. Essentially, Monster Reunion except with Spinel instead of Nephrite.
Relationships: Garnet & Steven Universe, Spinel/Steven Universe
Comments: 8
Kudos: 76





	Monster Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> If you are familiar with my blog on Tumblr, Anotherstevnelblog, you might have seen my artwork for my Monster Buddies AU. While I do want to write a fic based on the actual episode Monster Buddies for this, I wanted to do Monster Reunion even more, because, well... Angst. Enjoy!

“Now that my healing spit is back, maybe I could finally…”  
“No.” Came Garnet’s blunt reply.   
Steven pouted. “I didn’t even ask anything yet!”  
As if on cue, Garnet shifted her sunglasses with one hand. “With my future vision, I can see you’re going to ask if you could use your power to heal one of the monsters.”  
And she was right. Steven’s eyes fell to the ground for a moment, before they returned to the tall fusion, working his puppy dog eyes on her. “Can you see if I’ll get you to change your mind?” He asked. It was only a matter of time before the stoic gem would crack. She stared at him. He smiled. And then her shoulders slumped.  
Of course, nobody had to ask who his first choice would be. The boy turned his gaze to the stairs and called, “Spinel! Come here!”  
In a moment, the elastic-legged canine was tumbling down the staircase from his room - she never quite got the hang of going down them properly - and scrambled over to Steven, her ears perked high and tail wagging.   
“Good girl!” Steven praised, obliging the corrupted gem’s silent request the moment she lowered her head to have him pet her between the ears. She leaned into his touch contentedly, not a care in the world. It was strange to think that his monster buddy really was a gem like Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, hidden somewhere deep in her own corrupted state. But it was also exciting.   
Ever since he had made friends with Lapis, he had begun to wonder how many other gems he could make friends with. He loved teaching Spinel how to be good and spending time with her as she was, but he often found himself thinking about what kind of things they would talk about if she were healed. He wondered if she would enjoy movies and games like him, or books. Sure, she enjoyed curling up beside him while he did those things, and she loved sharing his food, going on walks, and playing simple games like fetch or hide and seek. She was even a good listener, at least that’s what Steven liked to think. She always paid attention, anyway, even if she didn’t understand. That was more than a lot of people in his life did.  
He moved to lick his hand, but then he stopped. “Oh, wait! I nearly forgot!” He said, and he hurried to the kitchen with Spinel trotting after him curiously. He took a box of donuts out of the pantry. He had to hide them now to make sure the gem monster wouldn’t sneak them all to herself. Just the sight of donuts had Spinel drooling as she stretched her head closer to sniff. Steven giggled, but then winced as he had to move his foot to avoid the drops of saliva. “Spinel’s favorite! Can you hold them?” He asked Garnet, returning to her side to pass it over to her. She took the box obligingly, nodding her head.  
Spinel followed her nose to the box now in Garnet’s hands. The moment she realized it was in someone else’s clutches, a low growl started to emit from her, the monster’s eyes spiraling and her ears and tail starting to stiffen. Steven’s heart leapt in his chest and he quickly pushed her away from Garnet, stroking her along the back soothingly.  
“Spinel! Spinel, no.” He scolded, and yet her head stretched around him to glower hungrily at Garnet. She was still a work in progress. Steven had to do his best every day to reassure the Crystal Gems that they could afford to keep her out of a bubble.   
And by that point, Pearl and Amethyst had returned, and the thin, tall gem rushed to Garnet’s side protectively. “Steven! How many times have I told you to keep food away from that - That - Her?” She exclaimed.  
“It’s fine, Pearl! I just gotta…” The boy paused to spit into the palm of his hand and then place it onto the creature’s heart-shaped gem. His heart leapt again, this time with a thrill, when he saw sparkles along the gem in response. Spinel’s canine-like form began to glow a blinding light, and it started to change.   
Steven stepped back to take it all in, gasping when he saw her start to stand up on two legs, and her forelegs shifted into arms and hands. The Crystal Gems watched in equal fascination behind him.  
“Is it… Working?” Pearl asked, lowering her defensive stance by merely an inch.  
Slowly the light died away, and the pink gem sat hunched on the floor, head ducked toward the floor and away from the four of them. Shoulder pads. Large, gloved hands and round, squeaky shoes. Her tail was still there, though. Pigtails. It suddenly occurred to Steven that her ears must be pigtails. Unless it hadn’t completely…  
Her head whipped around toward them with wide eyes, and… Her was still the same; long muzzle, dark nose, sharp canine teeth. She gave a confused whine, and rose to her feet. The Crystal gems looked on with concern. But Steven was none the wiser. He threw his hands into the air. “It worked!” He cheered, and then he grabbed the box of donuts from Garnet. “Spinel! Want a donut?” He coaxed, pulling a plain one from the box.   
Her eyes latched onto the donut and her head launched toward it to snatch it into her teeth before whipping back to its proper place, and she clutched at the treat as she devoured it, eyeing the Crystal Gems suspiciously.  
“Steven, I don’t think…” Pearl began, reaching to touch the boy’s shoulder.  
The half-corrupted gem charged into Pearl to shove her away, snapping at her and barely missing the motherly gem’s face as she dodged out of the way of the sharp teeth with a yelp. Pearl stumbled backwards and hid behind Garnet and Amethyst, who moved forward to protect her. Spinel barked at Pearl even while she stood retreated, her ears still bristling.   
“Steven, do your thing!” Amethyst urged, her eyes widened at Spinel’s continued aggression.  
“Spinel,” Steven soothed, “It’s okay. It’s okay. They’re friends, remember?” He normally would have stroked her back - but now that she had a human form, he decided that it would be better to just pet her shoulders instead. He yelped as in response, the gem’s noodle-like arms wrapped around him several times, and she practically lifted him off the ground into a possessive, boa constrictor-like hug, her growls dying down into a quiet rumble. “I don’t think this worked the way I wanted it to work…” Steven admitted.  
“I don’t think so.” Pearl agreed, still shaken.  
“Maybe she just needs more love!” Steven decided, returning the half-corrupted gem’s hug and planting a kiss onto her gem. It sparkled again, and she shuddered for a moment before seeming to relax. “Good girl...” The boy praised half-heartedly, patting her back as she tightened her grasp around him and started to soften her posture and pigtails. He had hoped it would have changed her back more.  
“This is the best we’ve ever seen it work.” Garnet commented.  
“But it didn’t work.” Pearl replied, growing somber as she noted the monster’s everyday behavior with her interactions with Steven, “I guess it will take more than a kiss to heal damage from the Diamonds…”   
“But why? My healing powers are back, I should be able to do this!” Steven said, wrestling himself out of Spinel’s tight grasp. Her hands latched onto his hands instead, and she leaned against his side affectionately.  
“It’s alright Steven. Remember, she’s not cracked, she’s corrupted. That’s something different, it’s - It’s something nearly impossible to describe!” Pearl said, trying to comfort the disappointed boy.   
“It’s sort of like if MC Bear-Bear didn’t tear the fabric of his arm, but the fabric of his mind.” Garnet explained.  
“Sounds pretty explained to me!” Amethyst commented, shooting a smirk at Pearl.   
Steven understood, but he wasn’t done wondering what he could have done differently to help. He hummed thoughtfully as he continued to pet the pink gem’s shoulder.   
“Well, we’re gonna keep trying! I got her this far, maybe… Maybe she’ll heal more over time!” He decided.  
Spinel tilted her head as she stared at the three observing gems. Something seemed to switch in her demeanor, and she slowly pointed at them. “Ranet? Pa- Par…” She barked, nearly unintelligible. But it was distinct enough to draw everyone’s attention. She was trying to say Garnet and Pearl’s names.   
Pearl gasped, her hands covering her mouth, and the faintest hint of tears coming to her eyes.  
Steven practically exploded with excitement. “She remembers you!” He shouted, startling the pink gem.  
“Spinel?” Pearl said gently, starting to take a step forward.   
Spinel continued to stare, her mouth opening and closing. And then she let out a whine, gripping at her head and staring at the ground. “Ranet. Parl...” She barked again, and then her head whipped up to Amethyst excitedly, her tail wagging, until… Until she clearly didn’t recognize the third gem, and her pigtails went back to bristling again. Steven could sense a lunge coming on before it happened. He quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and held her back as she tried to lunge against his grip, arms flailing and teeth snapping.   
“Woah!” Amethyst yelped, jumping to hide behind Garnet, who had summoned her gloves just in case. “I can see when I’m not wanted!”  
Steven pulled Spinel further away, trying to soothe her with words and make sure she couldn’t stretch to attack Amethyst easily. As he pulled her further away, he could see Pearl and Garnet looking at each other and nodding soberly. What were they thinking? They weren’t planning to bubble her again, were they? He held her a little tighter, hushing her soothingly. Slowly, as Amethyst stayed out of vision behind Garnet, the pink gem calmed down and was starting to look around intently.   
“She’s remembering you! It must be working! Maybe I can get her to talk more!” Steven said over to Garnet and Pearl, who looked to him with concern.  
“Steven, I’m not sure if Spinel will understand everything that happened even if she does remember.” Pearl paused, clutching her hands together and looking away.   
Garnet put a hand on Pearl’s shoulder. “Just be careful, Steven. There’s a lot for Spinel to take in.” She concluded.  
Steven nodded, relieved that they didn’t suggest poofing her for once. He took one of her hands in his. He didn’t understand exactly what they meant, but he wasn’t planning on overwhelming Spinel with anything anyway. He was going to keep working with her own pace every day. It was what friends did. 

But inevitably, he couldn’t help himself in wondering how much more Spinel remembered. Later that day, as they sat together on the couch coloring, he had an idea. “Hey, Spinel?” He asked.  
She looked up from her coloring page, which was mostly just clumsy purple scribbles - she still wasn’t exactly coordinated despite being healed - her head tilting.   
“I know you can’t talk much, but… You remember Garnet and Pearl?” He asked.  
Spinel nodded. “Yah!” She replied, her tail wagging.  
“You do? That’s great! They told me you used to be a Crystal Gem with them, back during the War…” He continued. She watched him, whining thoughtfully. “Remember the Crystal Gems? There was Garnet, Pearl, and Mom, and a bunch of others! And you all wore stars, like this!” He pulled the hem of his shirt to show off the star he also wore.  
Spinel’s eyes widened, and she nodded slowly. She opened her mouth to speak, but it didn’t come out as anything close to words, and she scowled in frustration, smacking herself on the forehead.  
“N-No, don’t do that! It’s okay!” Steven rushed to grab her arm so she couldn’t hit herself, “We can… Oh! You can draw what you remember, how about that? No words. Just pictures!” He suggested.  
Spinel relaxed slightly, but she tilted her head questioningly. But she seemed to understand once he brought paper over and started drawing an example. “See, like this! That’s me!” He said, showing the doodle he made of himself. Spinel nodded eagerly, and pulled the paper over to herself while grabbing a pink crayon. She drew a gem much like herself, only with rounded shoulder pads and heart-shaped buns, not like the spiky ears she sported now. Then she drew her hand holding his.  
“Awwww! That’s right, we’re buddies!” Steven gushed, his heart melting.   
Separate from the two of them, she drew Garnet, Pearl, and Rose, and then herself again. Then she drew other gems around them, all bearing a star somewhere in their form. “That’s you with the Crystal Gems! Wow… Were there that many of them during the War? I guess it makes sense, but…” He paused as she moved to a different page.  
She drew ships, landing on Earth, and other gems with weapons running out. Explosions. Fighting. Gems were crossed out. She was starting to look more distressed.   
“O-Oh… The War…” Steven mumbled, looking up at her with sympathy as she paused, her spiraled eyes tearing up. “Are you okay? We can stop…”  
She shook her head, seemingly determined. Her brow furrowed intensely for a moment as she thought, before she seemed to remember more.  
A call for retreat. Gems running. The Crystal Gems going after them. Ships leaving. They cheered. Spinel jumping in the air. Then something in the sky. Gems are scattering in fear. Spinel is separated. She’s looking. Running, and running. A sound coming from the sky. In the distance, Rose runs to hide Garnet and Pearl behind her shield. The noise grows louder. Spinel runs to join them. She gets close, and…   
Spinel scribbled the last page completely white, and then she stopped, her hand trembling. Tears pooled out of her eyes and onto the page. She dropped the crayon and clutched at her head.   
Steven felt like someone had twisted his insides up. He swallowed with difficulty. “You… You didn’t make it.” He said.   
Her eyes widened, spiraling and fixated on her last drawing of the Crystal Gems, her fingers lingering on her drawing of…  
“Rose…” Spinel choked out, remarkably clear, every part of her bristling.  
Steven was starting to regret opening this wound. Maybe Garnet and Pearl were right. “Spinel, are you okay?” He asked gently.  
“Where’s Rose?” She asked, turning on him, “Where’s Rose? Where’s Rose!?” She pressed, grabbing at his shirt before looking around, until her gaze fixed on the painting in the house.  
“S-Spinel, Mom…” Steven began, but he was cut off by her desperate scream as she dropped him and threw herself at the wall the picture hung on, clawing at it helplessly for a moment, trying to climb it. Then she slithered up the wall to reach it, her fingers grasping for the image but only pawing helplessly at glass and sliding back down to the floor with a loud thud.  
“Spinel! Please, it’s okay! It’s okay, just listen!” Steven rushed to her side, hugging her close and pulling her away from the wall she continued to claw at as she howled and cried, tears gushing from her eyes. “ROSE! WHERE’S ROSE!? WHERE’S ROSE!?”   
Steven felt like someone might as well have ripped his heart out.  
Spinel was his friend. The Crystal Gems were his family, they loved and cared for him very much, but they had more important things to worry about than him. He was left to play by himself for a lot of days. But Spinel, from the moment he accidentally unbubbled her, had given him her sole adoration after he protected her from the Crystal Gems. It was nice having someone who wanted to play as much as he did. Someone who looked at him and didn’t wish they were looking at someone else. Someone who didn’t think about how he was the son of Rose Quartz. And yet, here he was again, never enough compared to the impossibly large shoes to fill. Now that she remembered, she was asking where his mother was.   
And he would have to answer her.  
He found himself crying, hugging the sobbing, frantic half-corruption to himself. “I-I’m sorry! Rose isn’t here!” He began to explain.  
How would he tell Spinel that he was the reason Rose was gone? What if she started looking at him the way the others did? No longer a best friend, but the death of their leader.   
At his answer, Spinel broke free from his grasp, running erratically to the warp pad. Steven scrambled after her as fast as his legs could carry him, stumbling onto the warp pad with her just before the light shone to take them away. In a moment, they were on the remains of a long-abandoned battlefield, and the pink gem was running at impossible speeds, set on one sole destination from the looks of it. Steven tried to keep up, but her dexterous, elastic limbs carried her far away in seconds. He pressed on as much as he could, but he was quickly developing a stitch in his side. He couldn’t see her anymore, she was far beyond his reach. He slowed to a stop as much as he wanted to continue, and panted heavily. “Wait…” He wheezed.  
A hand touched his shoulder, making him jolt up. It was Garnet. At the sight of her, somehow, tears started coming even more, even though he was relieved. “Garnet… Spinel’s gone. I tried to catch her, but… She’s looking for Mom.”

Garnet scooped him up in her arms, and he wrapped his arms around her neck. His stomach took a dip as she jumped almost sideways, easily covering far more distance than he would have in ten minutes - and then she jumped again after hitting the ground. He rested his chin on the fusion’s shoulder, watching the battlefield pass behind her as she followed Spinel. This was where many gems fought, were shattered, and corrupted. And soon enough, he could hear Spinel’s cries again once the battlefield had passed further behind them, and he turned his head, squirming out of Garnet’s grasp the moment she was on the ground. She gently placed him on his feet before he could slip out completely, but he found himself frozen to the spot as he saw the distressed pink gem digging helplessly at the ground, fat tears pouring from her eyes as she tore into the earth with gloved fingers.   
“ROSE!” She howled, pausing in her digging to clutch at her pigtails.   
Steven rushed to pry her hands away from her so she wouldn’t hurt herself by pulling them. She didn’t look him in the eye, and almost didn’t even seem to recognize that anyone else was there. She writhed in his grip, a more guttural, animalistic sound as her form began to light up and start to corrupt again. She looked down at her changing form, screeching with fear and beginning to breathe heavily. “Spinel! Spinel, can you hear me?” He asked. “It’s Steven!”  
Spinel clutched at his shirt with a shockingly strong grip, finally focusing on him, but alarmingly so - as she panicked, it seemed like he was her one source of stability in her eyes. “Where’s Rose!?” She cried, barely audible in her corrupting voice.  
“She’s- She’s gone!” Steven replied, the dread from earlier blossoming into full strength. He had to tell her the truth. It was the only way. And he wasn’t even sure if he had much time left to wait. “Rose is my mom, and she gave her gem to me!” He explained, lifting up his shirt to reveal the pink gem in his naval.  
Spinel froze, eyes widened in shock. Behind him, Steven could hear Garnet summon her weapon. That wasn’t a good sign. Slowly, one of her hands let go of his shirt and lowered to his gem, eerily still despite her trembling form just moments before. Her fingers grazed it. Steven held his breath.   
Then she tried to grasp at it, and he yelped, jumping away from her reach. But her arms just stretched out to seize him by his sides and drag him back over, growling, looming over him as he fell onto his back at her pull. She had never growled at him before. Fear gripped the pit of his stomach. Her eyes stayed on his gem, her teeth bared for a moment before her head moved at lightning speed, jaws opened and ready to snap onto the gem. But Garnet had her before she could bite, tackling the corrupting gem to the ground and punching her into submission while she tried to bite at the fusion in return. Steven sat up, terrified as he saw one of his heroes holding his best friend’s head down so she couldn’t stretch her neck to clamp her jaws on her face. Spinel kicked and writhed against Garnet’s strength, her hands changing shape to her corrupted, fingerless legs. She snarled and yelped as one of Garnet’s gauntlets found its way to the heart-shaped gem and pulled.  
And even though Spinel had been seconds away from tearing his own gem out of him, he still yelled in protest. “Garnet, no!”  
Spinel poofed. Her gem fell to the ground with a soft thud.   
Garnet took the gem and stood up, silently moving her hands to bubble it. Steven ran over to hug her leg. “Don’t bubble her! She didn’t know, she was confused!” He begged.  
“You’re right, Steven. She is confused. And I can’t let her put you in danger because of that.” Garnet replied, and a bubble covered over the gem in her hands before she tapped it and sent it to the Bubble Room. Then she sighed and bent down to Steven’s level, looking at him solemnly as he tried to hold back tears.   
“I thought this would help her get better, but it just made her worse...” Steven said, his voice trembling. “And it’s my fault.”  
“It’s not your fault, Steven. I don’t think her mind can be fully healed. Even with her memories, she still doesn’t know how to handle everything that happened.” The fusion replied quietly, laying her hands on his shoulders. “I’m proud of you for helping her as much as you did.”  
Steven rested his head on her knee, his gaze turning to the place where Spinel had been digging. “Spinel showed me what happened to her, how she couldn’t get behind Mom’s shield with you and Pearl…” He said, “Was this where it happened?”  
“Yes.” Garnet replied, her own hidden gaze lifting to scan the mountainous horizon. It was so quiet there. If one didn’t know any better, they wouldn’t be able to tell this was home to the shattering of hundreds of gems, and the corruption of many, many more. “She went to the last place she saw us before the Diamonds sent their attack.”  
Steven’s heart ached for Spinel. She didn’t deserve this. None of the gems did. All he wanted to do was to find a way to fix everything, but now he knew it was better off if he hadn’t tried. Garnet rose to her feet and helped Steven up afterward, offering her hand for him to hold, which he eagerly took.  
“Let’s go home.” She said.  
Steven nodded, but his grip on her hand tightened when he realized he wouldn’t be seeing Spinel’s excited face and wagging tail when he walked through the door. He missed her already. But who knows if she would ever miss him again after what she found out.  
“Do you think… Once Spinel and the other gems are fully healed, she’ll still want to be my friend?” He asked quietly, afraid to find out the answer.  
Garnet shifted her sunglasses with her free hand. “I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want to.” She replied.

Weeks later, when Steven felt ready enough and Pearl was convinced, he unbubbled her again. Her form glowed bright as it took the shape of her half-corrupted body, and then… It changed to the form he knew well, the dog-like monster’s light fading and her gaze falling anxiously on Steven and the Crystal Gems as she crouched to the ground. But then… Her eyes lit up with recognition when she looked at Steven longer.  
“Spinel?” Steven cautiously ventured to outstretch his hand.  
She stepped into his reach, sniffed his hand, and then gave his palm a lick with her long tongue. Steven winced, but giggled despite himself as he felt a rush of twisted relief to see her back to normal. “Good girl…”   
He hoped one day that she would be a Crystal Gem again, but he hated to admit to himself that he would miss this. As his monster buddy, she didn’t know any gem history or hurt. With Spinel being a monster, there was no Rose Quartz.


End file.
